Data Recovery Facts

Hard Drive Data Recovery FAQs

Failed Hard Drive Causes - Platters, Heads, PCB,
and Firmware

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How
Data is Stored on a Hard Drive

When
a file is saved on a computer, the data is stored
on the hard disk platter's magnetic coating. This
magnetic coating on the platters is the 'glue'
that keeps your data. Any damage to that magnetic
coating means that there is data loss as each
piece of missing coating contains data. So a platter
missing a little bit of that coating has a better
chance of a successful data recovery as opposed
to a platter that has had massive amounts of that
magnetic coating removed or destroyed.

Hard Drive Failure Parts

Typical
hard disk components that fail include:

Platters
Hard disk platters, or spindle, is rotated by
an electric motor. The speed of this rotation
is measured in rotations per minute (RPM) and
the higher the performance of the hard drive...the
higher the RPM is which increases the reading
and writing of data to the platters. Any surface
contact to the platters can cause serious damage
to the magnetic strip the contains the data.
This includes dust, finger prints, water, and
most important of all, the heads of the hard
drive. Platter damage is the most serious type
of damage to cause hard drive failure.

Heads
(Head Crash)
When the hard disk is not actively in use, the
heads are parked until the hard drive needs
to read or write data again. It is when this
head moves outside the super thin cushion of
air between platters that causes the head to
crash and touches the hard disk platter.

Firmware
Firmware is the program instructions located
on the chips on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
Each firmware revision is specific to its hard
drive type and each hard drive can go through
dozens of firmware revisions to increase that
particular manufacture's disk drive's performance.
The older the hard drive, the more difficult
it could be to find a working firmware for that
specific hard disk model.

Printed
Circuit Board (PCB)
The PCB of the hard drive is the electronics
of the hard disk that manages and operates the
hard drive. If a PCB becomes damaged it is often
replaced with an identical PCB with the same
firmware on the original hard drive. Typically
PCB damage is from water or fire, but there
are other reasons why a PCB would fail. And
many times a failed PCB board affects other
aspects like firmware or heads.

Types
of Hard Drive Failure

Generally
speaking, when a disk drive fails it is due to
one of the following causes:

Media
Failure
Otherwise known as a head crash (as described
above), the heads of the hard drive have physically
touched and damaged the magnetic coating on
the platters.

PCB
Failure
As described above, PCB failure falls in the
mechanical failure type and typically can be
'swapped out' for an identical PCB for that
specific hard drive type. Along with the correct
firmware for that disk drive, a PCB replacement
can be a difficult type of hard drive repair
if the hard drive is an older model.

Logical
Drive Failure
This type of hard drive failure is usually the
least damaging to the data. This type of error
usually means that the operating system of the
computer (or utilities) can see the drive, has
marked it as unallocated space, but because
the computer's MFT is corrupted or damaged,
can't read the data. Hard drive failure of this
type is not that destructive and the chances
of a complete successful data recovery are high.

Types
of Non-Mechanical Hard Drive Failure

Other
causes for data loss and why data recovery would
be required could include the following:

Natural
Disasters
Extreme weather conditions that are out of our
control can make a bad day even worse. Whether
the computer was submerged in water due to a
flood, scorched by fire or in the proximity
of a lightning strike, there is still a chance
to recover data from the hard drive.

The
Human Factor
Accidentally deleting files, formatting the
wrong hard drive, and attempting to upgrade
you operating system only to have it fail are
common issues that come up. Also, as careful
as most people are with their laptops, a small
drop from the couch to the floor or down a flight
of stairs, is the type of forceful jarring to
the disk drive that could cause serious damage
to the hard drive platters.

Viruses
E-mail typically are the way most viruses are
spread from computer to computer. Also, visiting
questionable websites that have scripts, malware
or spyware waiting to comprise your system and
put your data at risk. It is recommended to
run the most recent anti-virus software to protect
your data from this sort of data loss and to
reduce the need to require data recovery service.